|| 21 November 2019

Marie Kondo's new online venture

In case you have not yet had the news: tidying guru Marie Kondo has launched an online store to sell you stuff — after spending years with books and a television show telling us to get rid of our household items. Seems as if Konmari is insinuating that her stuff sparks more joy than our stuff.

I am being perhaps unfair.

Two articles today about Marie Kondo’s latest online venture.

The article in Fortune concedes:

Whether you love or hate Kondo’s KonMari method for minimalist living, the Netflix program inspired legions of watchers to clean out their closets, make record hauls to donation centers, and possibly cut back on their clothing expenditures—especially as fast fashion comes under fire for its contributions to climate change.

The Guardian article is less charitable when pointing out:

The irony of Kondo selling household paraphernalia wasn’t lost on social media users. “Marie Kondo, who told you to throw away everything you own, apparently wants you to repopulate your now empty life with vaguely minimalist-looking junk that you, of course, buy from her,” one wrote on Twitter.

One of the items you can now buy from Marie Kondo is a tuning fork ($50) to purify the air in your home. Though your allergist would likely suggest that, instead of spending $50 for the tuning fork, that you apply the money to a device that had both VOC and HEPA filters.

Merci to Penelope who alerted me to these articles about Marie Kondo and sent the links with the comment: “The articles made me feel like I wanted to go out to my garbage bin and bring in all my trash and scatter it around my house to counteract that aesthetic — although I am very fond of a small black raku vase that I bought in Nova Scotia.”

I have been contemplating what if I bought one of Marie Kondo's donabe clay pots and held as she suggests a "donabe party." When my friends arrived and found out that all they were going to have to eat was a dinky little bowl of steamed vegetables and tofu, things could get very ugly.

Tofu!

Article in Fortune on Marie Kondo’s new online store

Article in The Guardian on Marie Kondo’s new online store

be chic, stay slim — Anne Barone

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